LeBron James’ The SpringHill Company Ups Devin Johnson To President, Appoints Elise Ben-Yair And Endi Piper To Key Exec Posts
EXCLUSIVE: The SpringHill Company, which recently received a minority investment valuing it at $725 million, has announced a key promotion and two senior exec hires as part of an ongoing expansion.
Devin Johnson, who has been SpringHill’s chief operating officer, has been promoted to president. Elise Ben-Yair, who has held exec positions at BuzzFeed and Yahoo, has been appointed Chief People & Culture Officer. Endi Piper, an alum of BuzzFeed, Complex and TV One, has been named General Counsel. Ben-Yair and Pier began working this month.
Johnson previously was president of Uninterrupted, the SpringHill entity focused on athlete empowerment. His new purview encompasses P&L responsibility, steering the Uninterrupted and SpringHill brands and overseeing the parent company’s international expansion. Prior to his run at Uninterrupted, he held senior digital exec posts at Tribune Media and NBCUniversal.
All three execs report to Carter, the company’s CEO.
Last October, the company sold what it described as a “significant” minority stake to a consortium of investors including RedBird Capital, Fenway Sports, Nike and Epic Games. Boosting the company’s staff was among the objectives of that fundraising.
While James has encountered challenges on the court this NBA season with the LA Lakers, SpringHill has been a hive of activity and continued to grow. Since a 2020 move to unite Uninterrupted, production entity SpringHill Entertainment and advertising outfit Robot Co. under one corporate umbrella, the company has increased its headcount to 160 from 90. Feature films and scripted projects produced by the company’s entertainment arm include Top Boy Season 2, which just premiered on Netflix. Hustle will debut on Netflix on June 10 and House Party will hit HBO Max on July 28. The company produced the Super Bowl ad for Crypto.com, which featured James, and did brand projects for Nike and Rockstar Energy.
The new execs bring considerable experience to SpringHill. Ben-Yair has spent 20 years in human resources, including separate stints at NBC and NBCUniversal. In 2017, she headed HR for CBS Interactive, which at the time operated CBS All Access (now Paramount+) and a range of other streaming apps and digital outlets.
Piper previously oversaw business affairs for BuzzFeed and was general counsel for Complex before BuzzFeed acquired it. She also was SVP of business and legal affairs for TV One, a national cable network producing original programming for the African-American audience.
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